Student numbers continue to drop

The number of students attending public school on Haida Gwaii declined in the first half of the school year, superintendent Angus Wilson told school trustees when they met Feb. 28 in Queen Charlotte. The latest enrollment figures, as of mid-February, show 625 full-time equivalent students are left in classrooms or taking e-school courses. That’s a loss of about six full-time students from September’s total enrollment of 631. “You can see we’ve lost a considerable portion of students,” Mr. Wilson said as trustees reviewed the data. “I don’t need to remind the board that each of those students comes with thousands of dollars in funding.” Enrollment was up at A.L. Mathers school in Sandspit, which includes the district’s e-school students, and at Sk’aadgaa Naay elementary in Skidegate. But this was offset by students losses at the other four schools. The biggest loss was at Port Clements elementary. Already the smallest school on the islands, its enrollment dropped to 36 students in February, down five from 41 in September.